PLYMOUTH -- The Marshall County Commissioners will stick with their 9th Road connector plan, despite a plea for changes from a property owner.

Todd Thompson, a 9th Road landowner, told commissioners the connector to Lincoln Highway in the Pine Road extension project would be dangerous.

Â?It will cause a cluster of traffic with three stop signs within 350 feet,Â? Thompson said.

He noted one of those stops would be at the bottom of a dangerous hill.

The connector is part of a plan to extend Pine Road so it connects U.S. 30 to Indiana 17. Currently, Pine stops at Lincoln, just north of 9th Road.

A federal transportation grant is paying 80 percent of the project at $3.65 million. The county must pay 20 percent, at $913,000, coming from the highway budget.

Over the past three years, property owners there have brought several concerns to the board, including access, drainage, wetlands, intersections, wildlife crossings, fencing and high-tension wires.

Thompson also said owners of the former Hayloft Restaurant property are worried about the current plan.

He showed a signed statement from the Hayloft owners and said the proposed connecting road would take half of their property, tuck whatÂ?s left into a cul-de-sac, add a retention pond and landlock wetlands.

Â?It makes more sense to move to a westerly route through a cornfield where someone is willing to donate land, rather than hacking up a manÂ?s land any further,Â? Thompson said.

Â?Our land is our livelihood.Â?

However, the more westerly route would result in higher cost for a connector road three times longer.

The cost for that part of the project, at least $200,000, would not be eligible for federal assistance.

Â?ItÂ?s out of the scope of the project and would cost taxpayers another 100 percent,Â? said commissioner Jack Roose.

Since Thompson does not hold the power of attorney for the property owner, Roose did not want to discuss the Hayloft issues with Thompson.

Â?He needs to be contacted,Â? Roose said.

Besides county property, 20 parcels of land are affected by the Pine Road extension project and some have already been assessed for settlements, said Marshall County Highway Department superintendent Neal Haeck.